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Words by Thurston Moore
The cassette always had the hottest, most excited sound for my ears.
I love physicality in music production – the vibrating speaker in an amp-powered cabinet, bass throbbing and guitar shredding. Record player tonearms licking through the vinyl grooves of tiny, hilly mounds and valleys. The electromagnetic impulse feed flashing through the stylus and cartridge and coming manifest through the cosmos of soul static stereo speakers.
But cassettes are the best, ruling with moving parts, the fat ferrous oxide tape sliced into thin strips holding sonic information zapped off of magnetic heads, whipping, rolling like an automobile in sweet cruise gear.
In the '70s we had the 8-track cartridge. Big, clunky and with zero regard for the fact that a song may have to fade out before the track actually finished. The cassette, at first a little cousin to the 8-track, soon became the more sophisticated and applicable medium, and by the mid-'80s was as popular as the LP.
When hip-hop hit big, it was the cassette that carried the news, from the Jeep to the playground. Of course, CDs and digital media came along and reformatted the listener paradigm, but for those of us who wanted to share ideas with some sense of economy, the cassette became our medium, away from the interest of the mainstream.
"…the cassette became our medium, away from the interest of the mainstream."
My love for cassettes starts with the mixtape, those love letters we'd gift each other of the songs that defined our personalities – or at least the personality we'd want our giftee to think of us by. This practice did indeed fade with the CD, which enticed us to "burn" songs – a lovely thing to do for awhile, until that faded away as well.
At some point in the '90s I noticed more and more young artists from the estranged musical underground of the globe issuing their sounds on home recorded cassettes with bedroom art/love designed card covers.
The proliferation of this activity, documenting all the shared and growing aspects of noise, free improvisation, avant-folk and uncategorizable music-making became a scene unto itself, particularly in tandem with the network of communication the internet offered.
From the late-'90s into the '00s, we had a golden age of underground music made in a wholly alternative environment, away from the standards of commercialized music production. I spent most of this golden age not only active in this scene but fully engaged in archiving as much as I could within my own parameters of absurd reason.
What we have here is but a taste, a morsel, a flash into the dynamic that is the true underpinnings of contemporary music, both experimental and popular. Cassette culture, as underground reportage is still extant today, with films documenting its continued life and sub-sub genres like the most marginalized recesses of black metal avowing elite "kult" status to the holy, lowly tape.
"What we have here is but a taste, a morsel, a flash into the dynamic that is the true underpinnings of contemporary music…"
I suggest locating a decent, inexpensive cassette recorder with built-in microphone, some blank tapes and a head full of steam, mixed with the pleasure of touch. Allow your fingers to push down the play/record buttons, let your inspirations rip, then pass this masterpiece of heart and soul on to the one(s) you love. It's that easy.
See selects from Thurston's personal tape collection on display in the vinyl listening room at the Sonos flagship store in Soho.


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Nordic Ware Vaulted Cathedral Bundt Tin
Add a touch of architecture to your baking with this vaulted cathedral cake pan from Nordic Ware. Producing stunning desserts with a graceful, curving design simply pour in your favourite cake batter and bake. To decorate, a simply dusting of icing sugar will do the trick - it doesn't need anything more.
Nordic Ware was founded in Minnesota, USA in 1946 by a clever young couple named Dotty & Dave. At first, Nordic Ware's collection compromised of a very small number of products all of which were speciality Scandinavian ethnic cookware products—the Rosette iron, Krumkake iron, Platte Panne pan, and the Ebelskiver pan. The first release of the world-famous Bundt pan wasn't as great as Dotty & Dave had hoped, until it was used to bake a prize-winning cake in a national baking contest- it then rose to fame and over 70 million homes worldwide have one!
The heavy cast aluminium Bundt® Bakeware from Nordic Ware provides superior baking performance, ensuring baked goods rise evenly, cook uniformly and are finely detailed thanks to the excellent heat conduction of the heavy walls. A special heat reflective exterior and premium non-stick surface assures perfect results every time.
sku: 851831
|Nordic Ware
|1. Before initial use and after subsequent uses, hand wash with warm, soapy water. Extended soaking is not recommended.
2. Before each use, brush with butter or shortening and dust with flour or cocoa to coat. Baking spray containing flour may also be used. Do not use regular cooking spray.
3. Mixes and recipes may vary. Fill the pan no more than 3/4 full to avoid overflow.
4. Metal utensils, scouring pads and abrasive cleaners should not be used on non-stick surfaces.
|9 Cup
All orders that do not meet the minimum £50 threshold will incur a £4.95 delivery charge.
We aim to dispatch orders within 1-2 working days.
We want you to be happy with your purchase but if you're not, or we've got something wrong, please contact our customer services team and we'll tell you what you need to do next.
If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you can return your item(s) within 28 days of delivery for a refund to the original payment method. Items must be unused, returned in their original packaging and in a re-saleable condition to be eligible for a refund. Note, non-stock items that have been especially sourced for an order and perishables cannot be refunded.
Refunds will be credited to the original payment method as soon as they are received but some banks may take up to 14 days to credit your account.
Items can be returned to our warehouse at the address below. Items must be sent with a completed returns form and despatch note.
Divertimenti - Returns
227-229 Brompton Rd,
Please obtain proof of postage and keep it until you have received your refund. Note, the cost of returning items will only be refunded in the case of faulty goods.
Returns can also be made in person at our Divertimenti Store. Proof of purchase (receipt, despatch note, order confirmation email) is required. Please note, stores do not process refunds for online orders. Parcels will be returned to our central facility and refunds will only be provided via the original payment method.
For faulty or damaged items, please contact Customer Services before returning the item.
This refund policy does not affect your statutory rights in respect of faulty or damaged goods.

subset: commoncrawl


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Archive for August, 2009
Full of Joy
August 2, 2009 Leave a comment
Day in the recording studio is never the same. It seems what you..ve done yesterday needs to be rearranged today, you get different feeling, different vibe every time you press "play", different nerve hits you every time you press "record".
So, rock on every next big day at the recording studio.
I wonder what..s next for me there today?
I know the songs, no wonder – I wrote them, but I am always guessing which direction it..ll leed me, until it..s born in the form of soundwave picture on screen.
And then again, I don..t know if I..m fully happy with it, but no doubt – Full of Joy.
Categories: NOJUSBLOG


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Gray rides early lead, racks up K's in Seattle
A's hold off Mariners following Donaldson's first-inning blast
SEATTLE -- Sonny Gray hasn't exactly been dominant in the early going of the season, though he has been getting the job done.
The right-hander again found himself in more than one jam in Seattle on Saturday night, but at the end of seven gritty innings, he had just one run to his name, stranding six baserunners along the way with a career-high-tying nine strikeouts.
Josh Donaldson provided the power with a two-run homer in the first inning that gave the A's a lead they would never relinquish, and Gray left with his second win of the season -- and fifth straight winning decision since September -- in a 3-1 victory over the Mariners to even the three-game set.
Gray, who scattered five hits and two walks, has allowed all of two earned runs in three starts spanning 19 innings this year for a 0.95 ERA.
Yet, "we still haven't seen his best game yet," according to his manager, Bob Melvin.
"At times he gets a little erratic with his fastball, and a lot of times the ball has a mind of itself," Melvin said. "It'll cut, it'll sink, do a lot of different things, and that's kind of a strength of his, too, because you never really get a good read on his fastball."
"I definitely felt good tonight," Gray said. "I was able to make my pitches, but I still have to prepare myself better for the early innings and get in that routine, that rhythm early on."
The 24-year-old righty has allowed 26 runs in his career, and 24 of them have come in the first three innings of the game.
On Saturday he offered up back-to-back base hits to Abraham Almonte and Brad Miller to start the first inning, allowing Almonte to score on Robinson Cano's groundout. But that's all the Mariners would get off the youngster, who went heavy on a devastating fastball/curveball combo to keep them from cashing in on any more opportunities.
Seattle was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position against Gray.
"That's who he is. He does have a tendency to tighten up a little bit when he has to," Melvin said. "He fields his position well and does a lot of things to help himself. He's a tough competitor and hates giving up runs, and when he ends up with guys on base is making pitches when he has to."
Coco Crisp was back in the A's lineup for the first time since Sunday, leading off the game with a single and scoring on Donaldson's long homer to left field off starter Erasmo Ramirez.
Ramirez walked Crisp and Jed Lowrie to begin the third, and Crisp would score on one of two bizarre plays on the night, with Brandon Moss getting credit for an RBI single on a fly ball to left fielder Dustin Ackley, who caught it but failed to make the transfer. Donaldson had already instinctively ran back to first base, though, and Moss was called out for running past him.
Ackley again had trouble with a transfer on Yoenis Cespedes' fly ball in the sixth. But Cespedes realized too late he could reach base on the play and was tagged out while running back to the A's dugout.
"We're seeing some funny plays because your instincts take over, and now there are areas with replay and new rules where guys have to reteach themselves," Melvin said, "and it's going to take a while. Donaldson was just trying to get back, and now the umpire is saying no catch. You're going to see a lot of that this year."
"It's tough," Donaldson said. "I don't like it. I have a glove on my hand for a reason. If somebody catches a ball in their glove, you're out. I've been playing baseball for over 20 years now. If a ball goes in a glove, it's always been a catch to me. It makes it tough on a baserunner, when a guy is diving and you see it go in his glove. Your first instinct is to go back, not to watch him transfer the ball to his hand. It's chaos.
"It's going to be one of those things where you can't be aggressive anymore on the bases. You have to go halfway and you're going to have to watch it the entire time, and you might see guys get thrown out at the leading base because they can't get too far away from the other bag for the sheer fact they have to watch it the entire time. And some of these outfielders have really good arms, so them throwing it 120 feet is no problem."
The A's survived the chaos at least on this night, with lefty Sean Doolittle pitching a scoreless eighth with another out in the ninth and Luke Gregerson finishing it off for his first save in green and gold.


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Minifig Genus
The minifig is the simplest and most common form of life in the BrikWars Universe. They are human-like in appearance except more blocky and generally have yellow skin (some minifigs display a kind of mutation in their skin though). Minifigs were created in the great R. 1,977 by horrible experiments at Hospital 555. Ever since then they have been trained in the ways of all combat by one ruthless dictator or another for the viewing pleasure of the often drunken race of humanity whom are often amused by gruesome acts of plastic violence. The minifig species draws its heritage from generations of hard-fought survival in the toy chests of six-year-old boys. Whether knights, spacemen, construction workers, or chefs, their souls thrill with the racial memory of a time when a toy's highest calling was to do joyous and bloody battle with all challengers. In that primordial toy box, it didn't matter if one toy was a fire truck and the other was a teddy bear, or if two toys were built to incompatible scales or originated from unrelated eras. It didn't matter whether they had anything to fight about. Combat and danger were ends in themselves. It is rumored that all minifigs wish to be like other toys and have been part of a story, but are too awesome and violent to be contained in three movies. They have no need for cowboys and spacemen to have friends in each other. Like all toys, minifigs exist for the sole purpose of getting themselves killed in the most entertaining and gratuitous manner possible. Minifigs are not bothered by their own grisly deaths, because they've seen so many of their brothers and friends die in similar fashions and they know how hilarious it is. Also, unlike green army men (who tend to get melted) and action figures (with their unfortunate affinity for getting blown up with firecrackers), a minifig's later reincarnation is almost assured, either in whole or in distributed parts. Hideous disfigurements and glorious deaths are the high points in an existence otherwise spent lying around bored in a box of unused bricks. So if for no other reason, you owe it to the poor little guys. Inject some joy into their lives by slaughtering huge numbers of them.
The predecessor to the Minifig, and were prominently featured in the creation of the Minifig, in the R. 1,977 at Hospital 555. A few still remain, but it has recently been discovered that if these ProtoFigs are exposed to enough violence, they will immediately transform into newborn Deadly SpaceMen. This has lead leading scientists to hypothesize that all the remaining ProtoFigs must have been kept in a state of complete non-violence for the entirety of their existence. How this was achieved is as of yet unknown. But respected conspiracy theorists believe that it is achieved by The Cthu-Lhuminati in an attempt to form up a secret legion of SpaceMen warriors completely undetected by the outside universe.
See Peaches.
Minifig Dimmies, uniformed in the T-shirts and baseball caps of the human fratboys they seek to emulate, destroy quality construction wherever they find it; gradually turning the brikbuilt world into an endless waste of shoddily-assembled piles of random elements. This is viewed as the ultimate escape from the materialism, desire, standards, and expectations of minifig society. This Mystical Juniorism is sometimes seen as an attractive option by minifigs who have become depressed by Critical Failure during a crucial opportunity for righteous destruction.
True Dimmies where created by an adjunct professor named Cypher in the Myjstik Mountain Time Lab in R. 1,996, using NegaVerse radiation to transform innocent minifigs who had been unwittingly exposed to Nega genetiks deep in the past. Their particular mutation is one of very few that have been known to form a growth on the head known as a noze. Dimmies can never sleep but can still get tired thus in order to keep awake they destroy all the trappings of civilization in their way.
Minifigs wishing to join in with the Dimmies must complete the four tasks of mayhem before they will be mutated in the ABS surgical chambers and become half dimmies, the hapless foot soldiers of their pure blooded masters. Dimmies, despite appearances, are not Undead, since even re-animated skeletons have more brains than they do. (They are a lesser subtype known as "scum of the earth", a position they share with Jaw-Jaws and Nega-Blokians.) It has since become apparent that BoB is the true Messiah of all the Dimmies sent to unite them and lead them to war. Dimmies from all across the BrikVerse flock to BoB and pledging their total allegiance. A vast army is amassing and it is predicted that shortly mayhem shall ensue.
NegaBlokians are corrupted minions and denizens of the NegaVerse, similar in physiology to the minifig, but wrong in so many ways.


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Editor's note: This is the twelfth in a series of posts chronicling my travels in Rwanda and eastern Congo earlier this year.
To start at the beginning, click here.
Day 12 – April 1
Coffee, again, at the Hotel du Lac. After yesterday's catastrophic failures at the border, I'm oddly at peace with myself this morning. I've faced, I think, the worst of my demons. Today, my fate is in the hands of Etienne and Justin – both of whom had promised to lobby on my behalf throughout the night. For this first hour of what will turn out to be a grand April Fool's joke on this particular April Fool, I can tell myself I've done about as much, so far, as I can possibly do.
Justin calls just a few minutes after ten – he is on his way to Cyangugu. Soon we're sitting together on the terrace of the Hotel du Lac, and he's sharing the bad news. "I do not know what the problem is in Bukavu," he says, shaking his head. South Kivu's internal politics have been simmering; the province is a mess. The governor has been summoned to Kinshasa to explain himself. In Bukavu, the opposition is agitating for power. "They are trying to get the commandment of Bukavu," says Justin. His uncle – some low-level cog, I suspect, in the ruling party machine – is afraid to cause trouble at such a critical moment for the party. Justin sighs. "The weather is not good for them," he says. His uncle can't step in on my behalf. Justin has done all he could.
When bad news comes, I prefer to take it all in one dose. By half-past ten, with still no word from Etienne, I decide to play what I suspect is my final card. Etienne's voice is strained when he picks up the phone – I know the news is not good. The director in Goma has been trying his colleague in Bukavu throughout the night – still no answer. The message, for Etienne, is clear. "I think he is working with those men," he says. His voice is deflated; my spirits sink. With the failure of this powerful maneuver, I know I'm out of options. Etienne wishes me luck with whatever I decide. "I'm sorry I have failed on my side," he says.
Justin can see my mood has soured. He, too, is out of advice for me. With the door in Bukavu having slammed in my face, though, I've shifted from despair to resolve. It is hardly eleven; I can still make Gisenyi by nightfall. The day would be wasted – a grim daisy-chain of bumpy bus rides through the Rwandan hinterlands – but there's nothing stopping me from strolling into Congo tomorrow morning. I share my plan with Justin. It's clear this is the only way. Now I find myself trying to console him. He's taken these past few days awfully hard. Though he knows better than I do the headaches and hurdles of life in the Congo, his pride in his country has been wounded. "It is a problem with Kabila," he says. "A guest comes to knock on your door, you have to open first. This is not good politics." He is not surprised, but still: the Congo has let him down.
We embrace with great warmth – it is humbling how hard he and Etienne have lobbied for me – and say goodbye to the Hotel du Lac, to Cyangugu. I promise to keep him posted on my progress – despite the change in plans, I should still be in Bukavu some time next week – and off he goes, his bright white sneakers beating a path up the hill.
Now I've shifted into travel mode. It's close to eleven: if I want to reach Gisenyi by nightfall, I probably should have left two hours ago. My mood is brisk. Money is exchanged – my stack of U.S. dollars has been dwindling all week – sweet loaves of ndazi bread are bought for the long journey, and soon I'm on the Horizon Bus to Kampala, by way of Kigali, the seats all but empty as we chug up the hill toward Kamembe.
Leaving Cyangugu, the bay glittering, sunlight glinting off the roofs in the slums of Bukavu, a powerful feeling catches in my throat. This has been a memorable week, and I'm oddly at peace as Bukavu disappears behind a bend in the road. For all the moronic waste of today's journey, I don't regret having come all this way only to be turned away at the border. Yesterday was educational; these, the border official might have said to me, are the facts of life. (Thinking of that legless man, the force of his shoulders, the short brisk strides and the powerful thrust of his walking stick. Thinking of the shrewd old woman wheeling her way uphill, the effrontery of that much put-upon face, the indignities of age, of her handicap, of the flesh.) A week from now I'll be looking across the same bay, from the other side. A certain sense of dark comedy is, I suspect, a necessary survival skill in the Congo.
The bus is barreling now from Kamembe. Adieu, Faustin, Lazare! There are only five, six of us onboard, and I suspect this is an unscheduled journey – that the driver of the Kampala-Kigali line, in cahoots with some associates, has tacked on a side route for his own benefit. Why else would Horizon – a shuttle service between the major East African urban centers – Kigali, Kampala, Juba, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam – why would Horizon extend its route to Cyangugu, of all places? We stop along the way – sacks of charcoal, of potatoes, are tossed under the bus. Small money changes hands. Yes, this is probably a profitable racket. We stop in small towns – a solitary passenger, an old man with a battered suitcase, boards, smiles, looks around, settles fussily into a seat. In Ntidenzi, schoolgirls are skipping rope outside a primary school. They stop, smile, stare. Some classmates join them, everyone laughing and waving vigorously as we leave little Ntidenzi behind.
We pass for miles with nothing but tea plantations on either side of the road. Then a forest of blue gum trees – tall, slender, silver-barked, rocking in the wind. These you'll find now all across Africa – non-indigenous, as native as yours truly. The blue gums grow quickly – it takes just five years, a man once told me, for a tree to reach maturity. In Rwanda, as in much of Africa, with its forests taxed by a rapidly growing population, these blue gums are planted to counter the effects of deforestation. In just a few years, a barren hill will be covered with trees – these become charcoal, firewood. But the effects, I'm told, will be disastrous. A South African farmer once described how quickly these selfish trees drink the water from the soil. The earth here is being depleted. But what else do you tell the villagers, who only know that they need these trees for survival?
Now we are entering Nyungwe Forest, the national park – the road cuts through one of Rwanda's last pristine places. The mountains are covered in dense forest, lit by patches of sunlight. The climate changes. The clouds are low, rain begins to fall. Through the thick jungle cover we go, the trees draped with liana and creepers, vines hanging from the branches. It is a picture-book jungle, Curious George – the kind you see in cartoons with swinging monkeys and apes. It's rare to see such wild places in Rwanda, with its carefully cultivated landscapes, its terraced hills. Thousands of years ago, the whole country must have looked like this. Our ancestors beating their chests and howling violently in the treetops. We stop. Villagers gather on the roadside, waiting for a lift. Somewhere in all that forest, still you find some settlements. They board, small bills clutched in their hands. Some wait – for a free ride, maybe, a passing friend. Others sell oranges, rough-husked fruits. In places we slow: a landslide has blocked part of the road. Piles of rock, mud, branches, sediment. A lorry passes, huffing slowly uphill and dragging a second trailer behind it. Across the windshield are the words, "Jesus is Life."
Now the trees begin to thin, here and there you see hilltops denuded and trees stripped bare. Suddenly, more of those alien blue gums, and you know you are close to human populations again. The forest vanishes. Villages, small vegetable plots, farmers in their fields. The sunlight is bright – the clouds seem to hang over Nyungwe. Then more towns, bigger, rows of shops, banks. We are approaching Butare, and now we pass tourist hotels, cars, new constructions on the side of the road. You are impressed, coming out of the forest, to see the freshness and vitality of these towns. So much development along the road from Butare to Kigali. A difference from the neglected backwaters on the rough lake roads.
The day is growing long, too long. We are four, five hours out of Cyangugu – the landscape is monotonous. I read, doze off. We stop – dozens of secondary school students board. Suddenly the bus is full. Laughter, flirtations, the smell of body odor. The girl beside me reads from a book of hymnals. I close my eyes, open them, begin to count the mile markers. We pass rice paddies – scores of gacaca convicts, in their pink shirts and shorts, bending, working. More rainfall. The scene of an accident. A bicyclist, a prone body, on the side of the road; a bunch of bananas. My seat is hard, and I can't find a way to arrange myself comfortably. Someone in front of me leans her head out the window and vomits. I close my eyes. When I open them, we're in Kigali.
The city continues to grow on me – a place so sleepy and scrubbed that a friend once dubbed it "the Morgantown, West Virginia, of Africa." But after two weeks upcountry it seems livelier, fresh, more boisterous than I remember. The streets are crowded, buses and motos, bodies dodging traffic, the rush-hour swarm. We reach Nyabugogo – craters, puddles like vast inland seas. It seems remarkable that a government which can lay hundreds of miles of fiber-optic cable across the country can't build a decent fucking bus station. Women clutch at the hems of their dresses, step daintily. People waving, calling, an ecstasy of partings and reunions. The bus has finally stopped; outside, an angry crowd. They are going to Kampala – the bus, I suspect, is way behind schedule. We made terrible progress through the rain. Now they are thirsty for blood; we have to push our way through the crowds. I flag down a moto. On the back of the bike, weaving perilously through the traffic on my way to the Virunga Punctuel offices. The duffel bag is perched on my knee, my arm strains to keep it from pulling me off the bike.
The first bus is at half-past six; I have half an hour to kill. I am, in fairness, glad for the extra time. I stock up on samosas and congealed pizzas for the ride, make a bathroom run at the UTC. The place is packed – the crowds look so prosperous here. Cufflinks, sunglasses, high heels, earrings. Men who, if asked, would describe themselves simply as "businessmen." So much noise and commotion, after the silence of the lake. As charmless as this place is, I realize how much I'm going to miss it: my thrice-weekly visits to Bourbon Coffee, my late-night runs to the 24-hour Nakumatt, the tall, slender university girls and preppily dressed boys strutting on their Friday-night promenades.
The feeling swells as our bus leaves Kigali, the lively streets, the constellations of lights strung across the hills. All day, since leaving Nyungwe, with the sun pouring its blessing on the hills and town after energetic town scrolling by, I've had an odd sense of faith in this country. In Kigali, too, with all the optimistic bustle, it struck me that maybe, for all my skepticism about reconciliation in Rwanda, this country really can pull through – that with enough jobs and development, enough growth trickling down to the collines, this country might actually get past the politics of genocide, divisionism, hate.
The optimism, this high feeling, catches in my throat. Along the road to Gisenyi, thinking about these past two weeks, I realize that I've never felt as strongly about Rwanda as I do right now. After all these months – stretching back to my first visit two years ago – Rwanda has finally grown on me.
Silently, I pour out my heart. The honeymoon is brief. An hour from the city, on a high backcountry road, the bus begins to rattle, a flat. This day – fittingly, April Fool's – will never end. A lesser or more superstitious man might have gotten the cosmic hint and headed back to Kigali. We stand on the side of the road; the lights of the city cast a luminous dome over the hills. Together eight, ten of us stand in the mud, pushing against the side of the bus so the driver can remove the flat. The night is brisk. Men and women, villagers, appear, briefly passing through the headlights. An old man, short, friendly, greets me, shaking my hand. "Me hungery, me hungery," he says, still smiling. I tell him I'm sorry, I have nothing; he laughs, shakes his head, wanders off. The road is pitched in darkness. I stand 20 feet behind the bus, staring at the stars, imagining myself all alone here, lost in the world. What a strange thing, this 21st-century soul. Bound to the earth. Wheeling around on our curious revolutions. Lassoed to an indifferent galaxy. Confronted on all sides by cosmic laughter. And believing ourselves somehow noble and brave and good.
Soon two bright headlights – an empty bus, sent to retrieve us and take us the rest of the way. We transfer our bags, settle into our seats. Everyone has arranged themselves in the same order from the first bus, and for some reason, this surprises and impresses me greatly. My window seat is vacant, waiting for my tired behind. I sit, bury my head in my hands, try to will the day to completion. There are too many twists in the road to nod off. Dark, silent towns pass in the night. We reach Ruhengeri – hotels, cheerful and welcoming; bars strung with Christmas lights. The moon comes out from behind the clouds. Mist fills the valleys. Mountains silhouetted against the light of the sky. This day has had some magic, too. The bus stops in villages left off the maps. People depart, walk stoically into the darkness. Men tug at their collars. Women kick off their heels, hoping to catch some sleep. Finally, Gisenyi.
It has taken close to twelve hours to get here from Cyangugu. Looked at differently: after nearly two weeks, I'm right back where I started. I slog down the road, surrounded by street kids – they are more aggressive, more demanding after dark. At my cheery little auberge, a group of young ex-pats, aid workers, most likely, looking blonde and convivial by the bar. A beer and a good lay – did Stanley have such simple hopes on his great African expeditions? But then the day's final indignity: the rooms are all booked. As if Rwanda has prepared one last kick in the ass to send me into the Congo. I haul my bags back down the road, ignoring the catcalls of the street kids, thinking uncharitable thoughts about these goddamn orphans. A shifty youth greets me at the door of the grim Gisenyi City View Hotel, as disreputable a place as you'll find in this lakeside resort town. We have to wake the manager, asleep in what will soon be my bed. He emerges from the room, sleepy, shirtless, smelling of booze. I am prepared to sleep in the garden if I have to. Then the lights go out.
I take out my flashlight, muttering, bickering, insulted that I'm paying close to fifteen U.S. bucks for this stuffy, wretched room. Briskly the sheets are changed, tidings for the night – good or otherwise – are exchanged. This long day is finally over. It's approaching midnight as my head hits the pillow. It's practically tomorrow already.


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This week in new hires, the employee BD of Raymond James announced the addition of three brokers, Barclays Wealth hired five advisors in New York, social media compliance firm announced plans to expand its headcount, wealth management firm EisnerLubin announced a merger with another New York accounting firm, and we provide our occasional update on jobs openings at the SEC.
Raymond James Adds Employee Brokers From UBS, Morgan Stanley
Raymond James and Associates, the traditional employee broker-dealer of Raymond James Financial (RJF) announced the hiring of three new brokers who will work out of two separate Raymond James offices in South Florida.
Pedro Harth-Silva joined Raymond James from UBS Financial Services, where he managed $105 million in client assets and produced over $1 million in annual fees and commissions.
Luis Alayo and Miguel Rodriguez have joined Raymond James from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where they managed $72 million in client assets and had annual fees and commissions of $784,000.
Alayo and Rodriguez will serve clients from the Raymond James office at 1691 Michigan Avenue in Miami Beach, while Harth-Silva will serve clients from the Raymond James office in Coral Gables, Fla.
Social Media Compliance Firm Erado Adding 30 Employees
Craig Brauff, CEO of Renton, Wash.-based Erado (left), a compliance and archiving firm in electronic communication which has become the social media compliance partner of choice for several broker-dealer firms, announced that due to its growth, it will add 30 new hires in 2012 in tech support, customer service, accounting, administration and web development.
Barclays Wealth Hires 5 Advisors in New York
Global wealth management firm Barclays Wealth announced Dec. 15 that is has hired five investment representatives in its New York office, as it continues to expand across the Americas. This brings the total number of new advisors hired in the Americas this year to 50. Among the five are two new managing directors, Jack Broderick and Bill Belleville. A former Lehman Brothers executive, Broderick most recently spent 15 years at Credit Suisse Private Banking. A CFA holder, Belleville spent 10 years with Credit Suisse Private. In addition, Barclays Wealth also hired three directors to be based in New York: Michael Gordon, Scott Madison and Jonathan Sopher.
SEC Hiring for Four Positions in DC
Included among the positions that the SEC is hiring for in Washington are the following:
1) Managing Executive, Division of Trading and Markets; with a salary range of $150,000 to $230,000 per annum; applications accepted until Jan. 3, 2012.
2) Director, Office of Municipal Finance; with a salary range of $150,000 to $230,000 per annum; applications accepted until Jan. 6, 2012.
3) Director, Office of Municipal Securities; with a salary range of $150,000 to $230,000 per annum; applications accepted until Jan. 6, 2012.
4) Deputy Director, Trading and Markets; with a salary range of $150,000 to $230,000 per annum; applications accepted until Jan. 6, 2012
EisnerLubin Merges With WithumSmith+Brown
EisnerLubin LLP, the New York-based wealth management and CPA firm, merged its practice with regional CPA firm WithumSmith+Brown, PC (WS+B), including its 55 professionals, effective Nov. 1, 2011.
Robert Simon, former managing partner of EisnerLubin who will continue to be the partner in charge of the New York office within the merged firm, said the merger achieves EisnerLubin's goal of expand its presence in New Jersey as well as in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida and Colorado.
William R. Hagaman, Jr., CEO and managing partner of WS+B, said the merger will help "solidify our position in Manhattan in order to better serve – and expand – our metropolitan New York client base. Founded in 1923, EisnerLubin has annual revenue of $11.6 million, while WS+B has annual revenue of $76.3 million.
Read the Dec. 14 new hires roundup at AdvisorOne.


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Full Movie Red Riding Hood Streaming In HDDownload Red Riding Hood High Quality with duration 100 Min and broadcast on 2011-03-11 and MPAA rating is 176.
- Original Title : Red Riding Hood
- Movie title in your country : Red Riding Hood
- Year of movie : 2011
- Genres of movie : Thriller,
- Status of movie : Released
- Release date of movie : 2011-03-11
- Companies of movie : Warner Bros., Appian Way, Random Films,
- Countries of movie : Canada, United States of America,
- Language of movie : English,
- Durationof movie : 100 Min
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- Amanda Seyfried ( Valerie )
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- Billy Burke ( Cesaire )
- Shiloh Fernandez ( Peter )
- Max Irons ( Henry )
- Julie Christie ( Grandmother )
- Lukas Haas ( Father August )
- Virginia Madsen ( Suzette )
- Shauna Kain ( Roxanne )
- Michael Hogan ( The Reeve )
- Adrian Holmes ( Captain )
- Cole Heppell ( Claude )
- Christine Willes ( Madame Lazar )
- Michael Shanks ( Adrien Lazar )
- Kacey Rohl ( Prudence )
Red Riding Hood Synopsis:
Full Streaming Red Riding Hood Valerie is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter, but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry. Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter plan to run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has been killed by a werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village. Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon, to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon's arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them. Full Movie Red Riding Hood Movie Streaming
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Producer : Leonardo DiCaprio, Producer : Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Producer : Julie Yorn, Casting : Ronna Kress, Director of Photography : Mandy Walker, Music : Alex Heffes, Music : Brian Reitzell, Costume Design : Cindy Evans, Director : Catherine Hardwicke, Writer : David Johnson,
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Skype for the PlayStation Vita went live today, with owners of the Sony-made handheld games console now able to make video calls using the Microsoft-owned chat platform.
Unlike the recently launched Windows Phone version of Skype, the application is able to run in the background while the Vita multitasks between other apps and gaming. Ah, Mum's calling, better pause my WipEout race.
The app works over both 3G and Wi-Fi and can switch between the front and rear cameras to show off your surroundings - as well as your ugly mug - to those on the other side.
Owners of Sony's handheld games console can download Skype for PlayStation Vita free from today. ®


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- Commuted from Jersey City to 16th and 9th in NYC via the GWB and the Greenway, 21 miles, 1:45 (4 minutes 53 seconds stopped). Fairly windy. #
Twitter Updates for 2011-08-24
Published by
Anthony Olszewski
********** E-mail This Page | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Resume as a Word Document ********** A vegan in his mid-50s, Anthony Olszewski believes that inertia, not time, is the enemy. His 20 mile plus bicycle commutes over the GWB to NYC prove that. Anthony Olszewski was born in Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital in 1956. During his college years, Mr. Olszewski worked as a bartender in a tavern owned by his family, the Tunnel Bar. He also operated an exterminating business and raised canaries and parakeets for sale. Mr. Olszewski was the Web Site Editor for Bret Schundler's 1997 campaign for Mayor of Jersey City and the 2001 Gubernatorial campaigns (primary and general elections) against James E. McGreevey. Mr. Olszewski has written on a wide variety of topics, including Jersey City short stories, tropical fish, running with your dog, the genetics of cage birds, the poetry of Amiri Baraka, the portrayal of African-Americans in popular culture, Jersey City politics, and Hudson County history. He currently provides Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing through a number Web Sites and is a member of Mensa. Anthony Olszewski is best reached by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com -- voice mail is available at 201-984-1956. View all posts by Anthony Olszewski


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Last Man Standing's Mike Baxter likes to keep to himself. That apparently includes not getting to know his neighbors.
But he may not have a choice on Friday's episode (8/7c, ABC). When his new African American neighbors' car is egged, Vanessa (Nancy Travis) urges Mike (Tim Allen) to tell them that their car wasn't the only one vandalized. As you can see in the exclusive sneak peek below, Mike isn't exactly for the idea (or exactly politically correct!).
Which TV show has the best fans? Vote now!
"Vandalism happens to everybody, guys," Mike says. "Why is it if you're black or gay or a midget you think stuff happens to you just because you're black or gay or a midget? Maybe they're just jerks! I dated this black, gay midget in college..."
So what happens when Vanessa goes against Mike's advice? Tune in Friday at 8/7c on ABC to find out. Watch the sneak peek below:


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Arrow Poison Dress
€ 400,00 € 260,00
3D effect
Body language.
The 3D effect seamlessly accentuates feminine contours. The pleasant, stretchy design and long, wide sleeves ensure a good fit and casual style.
Close fit / Circular knitting with 3D effect / Knitted seam / Matte look
Order Today: Estimated Delivery Date 06/10/2020
- main material 92% polyamide, 8% elastane


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For the first 12 years of her life, Esperanza Ortega is pampered by servants and sheltered by her doting parents on their ranch in Aguascalientes, Mexico. But a sudden tragedy shatters that world of wealth and privilege. Homeless and destitute, she and her mother emigrate to California to work in the fields and start a new life.
Privileged, wealthy Esperanza must leave Mexico to work in a labor camp on the eve of the Great Depression.
Call Number:
JF/YP F Ryan


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SAN FRANCISCO — Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today applauded a decision by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm the reinstatement of the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
"Today's ruling is a victory for fairness, a victory for equality and a victory for justice," said Attorney General Harris. "Proposition 8 denied to gay and lesbian couples the equal protection to which all Americans are entitled. By striking this unconstitutional law from our books, the court has restored dignity, equality and respect to all Californians."
The Ninth Circuit Court today upheld with Perry v. Brown the decision of Judge Vaughn Walker, which enjoins state and local officials from enforcing the ban on same-sex marriage. Attorney General Harris, along with Governor Brown and other state and local officials, refused to defend the law.
In 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that state laws restricting the right of same-sex couples to marry violated the state constitution. Later that year, the voters approved Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to provide that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
The California Supreme Court upheld this law against a challenge under the state constitution, but did not consider any challenge on federal constitutional grounds. Perry v. Brown raised federal constitutional challenges of equal protection and due process that were not considered by the state supreme court. After a full trial on the merits, district court Judge Vaughn Walker concluded that Proposition 8 violated these principles of due process and equal protection. His decision to enjoin enforcement of Proposition 8 was issued in 2011.
Today's decision from the Ninth Circuit upholds that decision.


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From tonight's victory party for opponents of the 8 Washington waterfront luxury condo project, the overwhelming defeat of developer-backed Propositions B&C seemed to go beyond just this project. It sounded and felt like a blow against Mayor Ed Lee's economic policies, the gentrification of the city, and the dominion that developers and power brokers have at City Hall.
"What started as a referendum on height limits on the waterfront has become a referendum on the mayor and City Hall," former Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin told the large and buoyant crowd, a message repeated again and again tonight.
Former Mayor Art Agnos also cast the victory over 8 Washington as the people standing up against narrow economic and political interests that want to dictate what gets built on public land on the waterfront, driven by larger concerns about who controls San Francisco and who gets to live here.
"This is not the end, this is the beginning and it feels like a movement," Agnos told the crowd. "We'll have to tell the mayor that his legacy," a term Lee has used to describe the Warriors Arena he wants to build on Piers 30-32," is not going to be on our waterfront."
Campaign Manager Jon Golinger also described the victory in terms of a political awakening and turning point: "We are San Francisco and you just heard us roar!"
Campaign consultant Jim Stearns told the Guardian that he thought the measures would be defeated, but everyone was surprised by the wide margin – the initiative B lost by 25 points, the referendum C was 33 points down – which he attributed to the "perfect storm" of opposition.
Stearns cited three factors that triggered the overwhelming defeat: recent populist outrage over the city's affordability crisis, concerns about waterfront height crossing ideological lines, and "a tone deaf City Hall that didn't want to hear there were any problems with the project.".
Among the key project opponents who have sometimes stood in opposition to the city's progressives was former City Attorney Louise Renne, who blasted City Hall and called the Planning Department "utterly disgraceful," telling the crowd, "Get your rest, more to come, San Francisco."
Both progressive and political moderates often share a distrust of the close connections between powerful developers and the Mayor's Office, and that seemed to play out in this campaign and at the polls.
"San Francisco, this victory is for you. And to all those developers out there: Do not mess with our waterfront. We're not going to stand for it," Renne said.
Two supervisors who opposed 8 Washington – David Chiu and Davis Campos – also spoke at the event, with the latter starting to define their political differences as they each run for the Assembly seat being vacated after next year by Tom Ammiano.
"Tonight, San Francisco said we stand for affordable housing and not luxury condos," said Chiu, who played a pivotal role in appointing Lee as mayor and ending the progressive dominance on the Board of Supervisors.
Campos followed by noting, "I've been criticized for saying we're seeing a tale of two San Franciscos, but that's what we have here," referencing a theme that echoes (as Chiu's campaign operatives have critically noted) that of progressive Bill de Blasio, who also won a resounding victory tonight in the New York City mayor's race.
"We have a City Hall that, quite frankly, doesn't get it," Campos continued, referencing the redevelopment of Parkmerced's rent control housing and today's board vote to close city parks at night, both of which Chiu was the swing vote in approving. "When City Hall doesn't get it right, the people of San Francisco step in."
Peskin also stoked the class warfare fires by saying, "Your voices are being heard loud and clear in Simon Snellgrove's penthouse," referencing the 8 Washington developer who spent nearly $2 million on this unsuccessful campaign. And Peskin said he had a message directly for Mayor Lee: "Wake up, San Francisco is talking!"
Judge Quentin Kopp, who fought downtown's aggressive push for more high-rise development as a Westside supervisor back in the '70s and '80s, called tonight's victory "history repeating itself," mentioning the work that the Bay Guardian did in opposition to "the Manhattanization of San Francisco."
Kopp also took a swipe at Mayor Lee, the protégé of Kopp's old nemesis, former Mayor Willie Brown, when he said, "This is the beginning of the end of five more years of Willie Brown's administration."
Indeed, the current political moment is beginning to feel a little like 1999, when Brown won a narrow re-election victory against the upstart write-in campaign of progressive hero Tom Ammiano and a movement stirred by the evictions and gentrification of the last dot-com bubble. The next year, progressive candidates won a majority on the Board of Supervisors and held it for almost a decade.
One of those supervisors was Chris Daly, now political director of SEIU Local 1021, who was at the North Beach party and told the Guardian that while Mayor Lee has been trying to defend bad policies like his Twitter tax break and support for 8 Washington, the voters tonight really had their fingers on the pulse of the city: "I'd call this a referendum on Ed Lee's policies in San Francisco."
Meanwhile, it was a very different scene over at the Yes on B&C party:
The party was held at Coqueta, an upscale waterfront establishment just a stone's throw from the 8 Washington project site. Despite the trays of gourmet hors d'oeuvres and frothy mojitos floating past, the guests were subdued and the mood was not celebratory.
Developer Simon Snellgrove, whose 8 Washington project was essentially being flushed down the tubes tonight, was in no mood to comment. "I'm having a little private party tonight," he told us, "and I don't want to talk to the press."
Rose Pak, a consultant for the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce who is well-known for her ties to powerful interests in the city, had a small circle of guests around her throughout the night and spent some time catching up with Snellgrove. Asked to comment, Pak said, "I don't know the Bay Guardian," and stopped making eye contact. At previous events, Pak has lectured Guardian reporters about what she sees as the paper's shortcomings.
Other notables included Jim Lazarus, who works on public policy for the Chamber of Commerce, P.J. Johnston, a former communications director for Willie Brown, and of course Tim Colen of the Housing Action Coalition and former planner Alec Bash, both of whom campaigned publicly for the project.
Mayor Ed Lee was expected to make an appearance but if he did, it was after the party's prime and after the Guardian had already left the scene.
After the first round of results came in, Colen addressed the crowd. "The returns are coming in and I have to tell you they don't look good," he said. "It's pretty likely we're not going to prevail tonight." Then went onto recognize "some really magnificent warriors" in the room, including Snellgrove and Alicia Esterkamp Allbin, a Principal at development firm Pacific Waterfront Partners.
"We ran a wonderful campaign we can all be proud of," he added. "It was going to be a wonderful activation for the waterfront. I think what we didn't see coming was how .. it somehow morphed into something much larger and was defined in different ways."
Lazarus told the Guardian, "I'm not optimistic," when asked early on in the night what he thought about the outcome. He added, "I think this project got caught up in a lot of other things."
"If it loses … There was a lot of I think mistaken concern about the impact."
Noting that the project went through months of approval but then was subject to a referendum and finally wound up on the ballot, he criticized the focus on building heights and the idea that it was about something more than just a waterfront development project. But this was the outcome, he said, because "An unholy alliance of people got together to oppose the project."
Perhaps "unholy alliance" is in the eyes of the beholder, but tonight, the voters of San Francisco seemed to prefer the alliance that opposed 8 Washington and all that it has come to represent in San Francisco.


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Top attractions in Amsterdam
Amsterdam: Evening Canal Cruise
Amsterdam: Life of Anne Frank and World War II Walking Tour
Amsterdam: Small-Group Bike Tour of Central Amsterdam
Amsterdam: Volendam, Edam, & Zaanse Schans Small-Bus Tour
Amsterdam: 1.5-Hour Evening Canal Cruise
Amsterdam: Luxury Canal Cruise
Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum Ticket
Amsterdam: Heineken Experience Ticket
Madame Tussauds Amsterdam Ticket
Amsterdam: 1-Hour Luxury Canal Cruise from Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam: Luxury Salon Boat Cruise with Drinks & Cheese
Top sights in Amsterdam
What to do and see in Amsterdam
Sure, everyone knows about the coffee shops -- but what else is fun to do in Amsterdam? Holland's capital city is a hub for happy cyclists, lazy beers by the canal, and art-lovers. As you start planning what to see, here are ten activities you can't miss.
Anne Frank House
Whether you've read the diary or not, the Anne Frank House is a must-visit. If you want to avoid the tourist traffic, book a ticket in advance and hop to the front of the line.
Amsterdam Canal Ring
By boat or by land, you won't be able to avoid Amsterdam's famous canal ring. Go for a stroll, hop on a ferry tour, or people-watch in a canal-side bar.
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is home to the world's largest Van Gogh collection, and one of the most popular museums in the world. Even the artistically uninterested love the modern architecture (and free wifi).
Find your way to Museumplein, the "Museum Quarter" at the heart of the city. Three museums, lunchtime concerts in the Concertgebouw, plenty of shopping, and grassy green space.
The national museum of Holland boasts works by Rembrandt and Vermeer. Plan to arrive first thing or in the late afternoon - or book a Rijksmuseum ticket in advance in order to skip the queue.
Red Light District
Whether you're looking for a museum, a "souvenir," or some risque nightlife: the Red Light District is sure to delight and entertain.
Heineken Experience
Established in 1864, Heineken is now one of the world's biggest beer producers. The lighthearted, fun, historical tour takes a quick 90 minutes. The Heineken Experience ticket includes two beers.
New Church
A part-time wedding chapel for Dutch monarchs, New Church is Holland's most important church and a historical cornerstone in Amsterdam. Between coronations, check out their rotating exhibits.
Amsterdam Museum
For city history, visit the aptly-named Amsterdam Museum. Educate yourself on everything from famous Amsterdamians to fashion and architecture. Some exhibits are interactive!
De Pijp
Amsterdam's go-to bohemian neighborhood is brimming with coffee shops, bars, and restaurants. Go before dinner and spend the late afternoon wandering through the Albert Cuypmarket.
Planning Your Amsterdam Visit
How many days should you spend in Amsterdam?
There's no right answer, but you can get a real feel for the city if you allocate three full days. That will give you enough time to hit the big sights, see the canals, and explore your way through some neighborhoods.
Getting around town
Amsterdam is an easy city to navigate. While the public transport is first class, most visitors find that the city is compact enough to be 100% walkable, save for the train to-and-from Schiphol Airport. Plus, you can easily rent a bicycle when the weather's nice.
How expensive is Amsterdam?
While there are a couple big activities you will have to pay for (like the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum), Amsterdam is full of street markets and small independent galleries. And the city is so walkable that you won't need to spend a lot on public transportation.
Good to know
- Language
- Dutch and lots of English
- Currency
- Euro (€)
- Time Zone
- Country Code
- +31
- Best time to visit
- There's never a promise of good weather in Amsterdam, but you can expect milder temperatures and longer days between April and September. April is especially lovely -- those famous tulips will be blooming, and you can celebrate Holland's biggest holiday of the year, King's Day.
Things to Do in Amsterdam
Top Attractions in Amsterdam
Cities in Netherlands
Other Sightseeing Options in Amsterdam
Want to discover all there is to do in Amsterdam? Click here for a full list.
What people are saying about Amsterdam
Great way to get out if the city and see the country side!
We absolutely loved this tour.. it's was awesome to visit the windmills; cheese shop; waffle shop and wooden clog shop.. was great to have the locals share their knowledge regarding their traditions and what they have been doing for many many years.. the actual bus trip was a highlight.. with Steve the singing Driver Dutch Rock and his crew!! They were all amazing and would highly recommend this tour!
It was very interesting and entertaining! I loved it!
It was an amazing experience! I went with 6 other people and everything went smoothly. The energy the employees give off was great they had us all participating and making sure we were having a good time! Not only do you get a little history about Heineken they have cute rooms you go into with all kinds of different activities for people of all ages! Best way to end my 2 week vacation :)
The tour is good to see Giethoorn lifestyle
The tour take 2-3 hrs on the bus without any drink or some snacks and there is no toilet on the bus. But overall is good to see Giethoorn villages & guide is good to explain. The one hour Amsterdam canal tour also good to do in daytime can see more than nighttime. (I took around 18.30pm then some building couldn't see)
Excellent tour of Amsterdam Jewish Ghetto area
The tour that we had was excellent - the guide provided a very insightful and empathetic overview of the circumstances that prevailed in Amsterdam over the 2nd World War - we ended up at Ann Franks house. We had purchased tickets to enter Ann Franks house and museum separately - so the overall tour was excellent.
Ok However they need to turn there Mics up
Was ok ok took a while to get started, Also very long waiting time for drinks. Once the show started the Comedy was good, Excellent one liners. and able to make a gag from Audience suggestions. All in all it wa funny However i would have liked the Microphones turned up was hard to hear at times.


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Over the hump
Ah, the annual rhythms. After the county fair winds down, summer starts its languid, downhill swing. The air is heavy with smell of crops. Mosquitoes by the million roar as the sun goes down. The days aren't aren't in a hurry to get shorter. That doesn't happen until after September 21, when the bottom falls out of the summer and the sun bolts south.
The gardens at the nursery really look good. They were planted later than ever, but they are turning into something to see sooner than ever, or so it seems. Not sure why. Hot weather is a good thing, and Dad is out there with the sprinklers all day, every day.
A local farmer said it took a mere six days for the corn to go from knee-high to over our heads. That is multiple inches per day. If you listened, you probably could hear the corn grow.
There simply aren't many small grain fields this year, and unlike many years, I don't see the small grains turning tan quite yet. I drove around today and everything was green. Almost every field is planted in corn or soybeans. I don't quite understand it. Corn prices are going down due to the massive acerage devoted to the crop, yet few farmers tried to pull a fast one and plant what nobody else was planting. I am not sure how that process works, but I would think it would pay to be where everybody else is not.
With corn prices down, making ethanol is once more profitable. Some ethanol plants which were mothballed are now back in action.
This is the time of year we long for all winter. At least I do. I am determined to relish it.


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DANCING WITH THE STARS on GSN!! Starting January 21, 2012
This is just a tease for some upcoming information about DWTS on GSN. I am working on getting a bit more information – as soon as I know it, you'll hear about it. From GSN:
GSN (Game Show Network) has an amazing gallery of stunning new original art—as well as revealing one-on-one, behind-the-scenes video interviews—with a buzzworthy group of DANCING WITH THE STARS celebrity alums and pro dancers from a variety of seasons, including reigning champ J.R. Martinez!
As we recently announced, GSN has acquired seasons 4-14 of DANCING WITH THE STARS, and we assembled a one-time only group of series veterans and dance pros to celebrate and promote our upcoming January 21 launch of the series.
GSN will kick off our airings of DWTS with Season 4 on Saturday, January 21, 2012, at 6:00pm ET/5pm CT. Season 4 episodes will air back-to-back every Saturday night on GSN through March 3, 2012.
GSN sent us some High Res photos for your enjoyment (Derek Fans head to PDH). Read more..


text: Forensic Science Program Featured on KARE 11Hamline is the only university in Minnesota that offers a forensic science certificate program, so it makes sense that KARE 11 News called on Hamline students and a faculty member to help produce a feature story that aimed to illustrate all of the physical evidence and forensic clues people leave behind everyday. Reporter Trisha Volpe called on Forensic Science Professor of Practice Glenn Hardin and students Stephanie Perry and Jon Pinke to help collect and examine the fingerprints, footprints, fiber and hair samples, and possible DNA evidence left behind by a mother of two, a volunteer for the news segment, in her kitchen, car, coffee shop, gym, and convenience store. Watch the Hamline team in the field and in the lab in the video below or on KARE 11's website. Find out more about Hamline's forensic science and criminal justice programs on our website.


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WSJ Puzzles is the online home for America's most elegant, adventurous and addictive crosswords and other word games. Read more about our puzzles. To reach us, email firstname.lastname@example.com.
• Tips for Playing the Interactive Crossword
• Guide to the WSJ Crossword Contest
See the Community Rules and report comments to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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The links below take you to dynamically generated lists of Ben Radakovich's peakbagging activity.
Reports showing a climber's buddies and other climbers. Click for More Info
Lists personally created by Ben Radakovich. (Search for Lists from other climbers).
These reports show number of peaks climbed, highest point reached, and other statistics grouped by year or month.
Ben Radakovich has self-identified as interested in climbing to the high points of counties in the United States.


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By Carlos Villota,
Two years after the Greek debt crisis first appeared in headlines across the globe, policy makers in
The debt problems in
For instance, in the case of
Refinancing in a debt crisis with new loans with policy conditions attached is nothing new. We have seen it fail before in different countries from Zambia in the 1980s to Argentina at the beginning of the last decade. So why are these policies still being pursued? One obvious aim is to recover as much of investors´ money as possible, whatever their responsibilities in causing the current crisis, by transferring liability to the whole of society. This is why the inevitable Greek writedown was delayed as long as possible and then investors accepted partial writedown only to avoid losing 100% in a total default.
Demanding debt justice in
Campaigners are demanding transparency. The call is simple: Tell us what we are paying for! Citizens stand up and demand transparency and information about what their taxes are spent re-paying. Learning from Southern debt campaigners, one of the tools used to address this opacity is to carry out debt audits, the purpose of which is to provide the knowledge on which truly democratic decisions should be based and to remove the mask of the financial system.
A fair solution to debt crises is also needed
While transparency and non-payment of unjust debt is key to get out of the current crisis, long-term solutions are also needed otherwise debt crises will happen again. Across the world countries are increasingly turning to loans to cover rising fiscal gaps. The European crisis clearly repeats the lessons of the Latin American debt crisis 30 years ago – that ad hoc refinancing and piecemeal responses defined by the creditors simply do not solve debt crises. Not on a macro level and crucially not for the people.
A fair and independent debt work-out procedure where analysis and decision making is independent of creditors is needed to find fair and lasting solutions to debt problems, including holding creditors to account for reckless behaviour, by deeming them to take the losses that result from any reckless behaviour. Only by making lenders pay for reckless lending can we create incentives to behave prudent and responsible in the future.
Promoting transparency through debt audits and fair, lasting solutions through independent debt resolution procedures could pave the way for a genuine break with the failed economic policies of the past and lead to sound lending and borrowing in the future, that can also favour the poorest and support democratisation of political and social life.


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This week in the Nintendo Download, Pro Jumper! premieres for North American audiences, though the trailer is still in Japanese, it's an adorable variation on platformers. Tennis and Stratego are exactly what they sound like&emdash;expect no variations there. This week is rounded out by a hidden-object game that will put I Spy books to shame, and and a classic puzzle for the 3DS and DSi.
Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent?!
Publisher: Aksys Games
Price: 500 DSi Points/$4.99
Run, jump and towel-attack to collect apples and successfully bypass the legions bent on Chimaki's destruction.
Chimaki from Guilty Gear 2 stars in this quirky platformer for the Nintendo DSiWare service. Chimaki is a tiny creature with an insatiable lust for life. Something of a recluse, he ventures out of his hermitage on occasion to seek the truth. What goes on behind that implacable face is a mystery – perhaps even to Chimaki himself. Make use of Chimaki's run, jump and towel attacks to collect apples, successfully bypass the legions bent on his destruction and reach the hot spring located at the end of each stage. Chimaki is a lover, not a fighter. As such, a mere two hits will cause him to expire.
Stratego: Next Edition
Publisher: Games Factory Online
Price: 500 DSi Points/$4.99
Become the greatest general of all time.
In Stratego: Next Edition you must demonstrate your strategic skills on the battlefield. Stratego' s unique game play pits you against opponents who will do everything in their power to outsmart you. Rise to the challenge and confront them in battle. Emerge victorious and you'll become the greatest general of all time. You can also play Stratego: Next Edition wirelessly against a friend who also owns a Nintendo DSi™ or Nintendo 3DS™ system and has a copy of the game. Do you have the strength to endure these challenges and be the first to capture the flag?
Publisher: Neko Entertainment
Price: 200 DSi Points/$1.99
Delbo is a shooting game in which the player shoots an orb to extinguish the same color orbs falling down from the upper side.
Delbo is a shooting-based puzzle game. Players must shoot an orb from the lower side of the screen to hit falling orbs from the upper side of the screen. When the color of the falling orbs matches the orb players shoot, they will be connected and extinguished. This game is easy to play but hard to master.
Publisher: Nintendo
Original Platform: Game Boy
Price: $2.99
Tennis, anyone? The ball is in your court.
For fans of classic video games and of the sport itself, this is one to add to your collection. As seen in the 1989 Game Boy™ release, this game delivers realistic match-play action.
Choose your opponent's skill level and practice your power serves, skillfully placed shots, lofty lobs and killer cross-courts. You may even recognize a friendly face on the court: Mario™. He will serve as umpire and call the close ones.
Get ready to game, set and match in Tennis. To enjoy the 3D effect of Nintendo 3DS software, you must experience it from the system itself. All screenshots and videos on this website have been captured in 2D mode.
The Mystery of Whiterock Castle
Publisher: Aksys Games
Price: 500 Wii Points
Experience a thrilling adventure at Whiterock Castle as you search for a missing princess. Find all the hidden objects in 10 meticulously detailed settings as you get to know the various inhabitants and rooms of the castle. You can journey through a medieval fantasy world in a single-player game, compete against other players or help each other out in co-operative game play. Make haste and explore the King's vast castle with its gloomy dungeons and secret nooks and crannies. Every adventure will be unlike any other because the hidden objects will always be concealed in different places. The hunt for the highest score has begun.


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The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria globally is unlikely to be met, according to Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow Professor Bob Snow. The statement comes in a report published today in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.
The eight MDGs were established by the United Nations in 2000 with a view to tackling global poverty and health inequality. Goal 6 included the target to "halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases".
Malaria is one of the world's biggest killers, killing over a million people every year, mainly children and pregnant women in Africa and South-east Asia. It is caused by the malaria parasite, which is injected into the bloodstream from the salivary glands of infected mosquitoes. There are a number of different species of parasite, but the deadliest is the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which accounts for 90 per cent of deaths from malaria.
According to research conducted as part of the Malaria Atlas Project (www.map.ox.ac.uk), over 40% of the world's population is at risk from infection from the P. falciparum parasite. Professor Snow and colleagues from the University of Oxford, who developed the map, have identified the areas where risk is moderate or high and areas where the risk is relatively low and compared this to levels of funding to control malaria in these areas. They also analysed where funding was allocated for malaria control from major donors such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the World Bank and the US President's Initiative, and from national governments.
"There is clearly a lot of good will from the international community to tackle malaria, but more money needs to be invested and this needs to be distributed more equitably," says Professor Snow, who is based at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Nairobi, Kenya. "If not, it is unlikely that the Millennium Development Goal to tackle malaria will be met.
"We need to map where the problems are and where investment is most needed if we are to target the funds more effectively. This has been one of the primary intentions of the Wellcome Trust-funded Malaria Atlas Project. Without a map we could easily be missing the target and wandering around in endless circles."
In 2007, annual funding for malaria control, which includes insecticide-spraying, use of insecticide-treated bed nets and access to rapid diagnosis and medicine, amounted to US$1 billion - less than US$1 per person at risk. Around forty percent of this came from the GFATM, the rest from national governments and external donors. Previous studies have estimated the optimum amount required to tackle malaria to be between US$4-5.
The researchers found a wide range of regional disparity between risk levels and amount of money allocated to the area for malaria control. For example, Burma (Myanmar) received US$0.01 for each person at risk, compared to US$147 in Suriname, South America. Certain areas, such as Africa, the Americas and the Middle East, received appropriate levels of the funding disbursed, but there were large shortfalls in other regions, such as South East Asia and the Western Pacific regions.
"Sixteen countries - that's half of all the people at most risk - receive less than fifty cents for each person at risk," says Professor Snow. "This includes seven of the poorest countries in Africa and two of the most densely populated at-risk countries in the world, India and Indonesia."
The research has been welcomed by Anthony Kiszewski, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts.
"Professor Snow and colleagues have presented us with the clearest picture yet of shortfalls in funding, not to assign blame, but to illuminate targets where intensified investment could produce large returns," says Professor Kiszewski. "With a goal as ambitious as halting and beginning to reverse malaria incidence by 2015, the world can't afford to under-fund large populations at risk."


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Through the first four months of 2014, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has landed a new sponsor, another Daytona 500 win and an award selected by the media.
Now, life will be really grand if the popular NASCAR driver can rekindle his old Talladega Superspeedway dominance Sunday in the Sprint Cup Series.
Media and broadcasters selected Earnhardt as the first quarter winner for the Driver of the Year award. He beat Kevin Harvick and IndyCar's Will Power for the honor, and if it seems like getting crowned winner of the first quarter of a race, it's still meaningful to Earnhardt.
"It's good that the media sees the performance because as much as we love to do a lot of things for ourselves we really get a kick out of when the media and our fans see the performance and acknowledge it," he said Friday. "That kind of nod was a great feeling.
"We have worked so hard to be able to be this competitive and we show up every week and we are quick and the car is there. It's been so long — or I've never really had that to be honest. I can't even imagine '04 was even that good. This is awesome that things are going as good. I couldn't be happier with what is going on in my professional life."
Earnhardt was second at the Talladega race last October after a four-race run when his average finish was 18th.
It was a serious rut for a driver who won four times at Talladega in a three-year span ending in 2004, with two runner-up finishes in between.
Earnhardt said the focal point on his race team until maybe 16 months ago was on just overall improvement. Then they could turn more of their attention to restrictor plate racing for the big tracks at Daytona and Talladega.
It paid off with his second Daytona 500 win in February. Earnhardt is currently fifth in the points standings.
If he does have more confidence coming into 'Dega, Earnhardt said it's about the car not himself.
"When you are driving the car and you get a sense of the car's ability, the car gives you the confidence," Earnhardt said. "Then when you are thinking more positively, you tend to see positive results no matter what you are doing, whether you are driving a car or whatever.
"If you are thinking, 'Hey man I need to make this move right now, but I don't believe in the car,' then the result is typically not what you are wanting and more of what you expect."
The latest good news for Earnhardt was a three-year sponsorship with Nationwide Insurance, announced on Friday.
Under the agreement with the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team, Nationwide will be a primary sponsor for 12 Sprint Cup races in 2015 and 13 each during the two years after that. The company also will be an associate sponsor all three seasons.
Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick says through the partnership "we'll build another program that moves the needle for their business. The opportunities are endless."
Earnhardt is a two-time Nationwide Series champion and has 20 Sprint Cup wins. He said the company is a good fit with his team
"I can't imagine a better scenario and I think Nationwide is very excited to get going and start working together in the Cup series," Earnhardt said.
Nationwide is ending its title sponsorship of the second-tier series at the end of this season after seven years. The company sponsored Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for four Sprint Cup races this season and remains signed on as NASCAR's official auto, home, life and business insurance partner through 2017.
Earnhardt, who co-owns a Nationwide team, said he's hearing that the search for a new title sponsor "won't be a challenging one, that there is some good interest there."
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In a seemingly annual rite of spring, the Jamestown High boys and girls tennis teams ensured themselves of state berths with Region I semifinal victories Wednesday.
The Eagles won't have any company from the Bay Rivers District, though.
Both Jamestown squads, playing on their home courts, posted 5-0 wins over fourth-place BRD teams: the Grafton boys and Smithfield girls.
The other BRD teams needed to travel northwest, and both fell 5-2 to Battlefield District opponents. The Poquoson boys lost to defending region champ James Monroe in Fredericksburg, and the York girls lost at Eastern View in Culpeper County.
Facing the Smithfield girls, who posted their best regional finish in the Bay Rivers era, Jamestown's girls lost just eight games among six singles matches. Bay Rivers singles champion Leah Walter, runner-up Anna Walter, Elizabeth Wallace and Kathy Sharp won at the top four positions, and Katie Hunt won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6, and No. 5 Sarah Reso was ahead 6-0, 5-1 when the decision became official.
Eastern View won 5-4 in the regional first round over Lafayette, a team Jamestown defeated 8-1 earlier this month. But the Eagles will travel for the 2 p.m. Friday final against the Cyclones, since Eastern View has a better overall record.
Johnson's girls began the year 2-4, with three losses to Group AAA teams and one to state-caliber AA E.C. Glass in Lynchburg. No other team has scored more than two team points against the Eagles.
"I'm going to continue to play tough teams to push the girls," Jamestown coach Karen Johnson said. "Today, the bottom of our lineup has a little more experience. They're just solid all the way through. They're enjoying this season and I'm enjoying this season."
Jamestown's senior girls have experienced three consecutive state semifinal losses. Like last season, they hope to win the region and be at home for their quarterfinal.
"We hope to take this a step further than we have," Johnson said. "We want to make sure we go out strong (Friday) to save ourselves some of the travel wear and tear."
In boys competition, Sam Ross earned his 80th victory – singles and doubles combined – as a Jamestown player with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1. Mike Jones, Fabian Schleicher, Derrick Neilson and Rohan Kohli easily won at 2 through 5.
Eagles coach Bob Artis said his team will be at home at 2 p.m. Friday against JM, but "I'm the underdog. They smacked me upside the head last year. I can't be the favorite.
"I'm expecting it to come down to doubles, 5-4 one way or the other. It's going to come down to who can stay calm through two matches."
Singles: Leah Walter d. Kayla Ervin 6-1, 6-2; Anna Walter d. Felicia Tucker 6-0, 6-0; Elizabeth Wallace d. Kiera Ervin 6-0, 6-0; Kathy Sharp d. Ashlyn Mangum 6-1, 6-1; Sarah Reso (J) led Michelle Jones 6-0, 5-1, did not finish; Katie Hunt d. Kaitlyn Yates 6-2, 6-0. Doubles: Canceled.
Singles: Sam Ross d. Jung Choi 6-0, 6-0; Mike Jones d. Antonio Caraballo 6-1, 6-0; Fabian Schleicher d. Y. Kim 6-0, 6-0; Derrick Neilson d. Chris Yang 6-0, 6-1; Rohan Kohli d. James Zhang 6-1, 6-2; Brad Mahaffey (J) led S. Kim 6-3, 3-0, did not finish. Doubles: Canceled.


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This image from a Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security joint bulletin shows the remains of a pressure-cooker bomb that exploded during the Boston Marathon, the FBI says.
The FBI's lead investigator into the Boston Marathon bombings on Tuesday made a passionate plea for information from the public, saying the "range of suspects and motives remains wide open" as the probe into who might be responsible for the attacks begins.
"Someone knows who did this," said Richard DesLauriers, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office. "Importantly, the person who did this is someone's friend, neighbor, coworker or relative. We are asking anyone who may have heard someone speak about the marathon, or the date of April 15, in any way that indicated that he or she may have targeted this event to call us."
The remains of a black backpack that the FBI says contained one of the bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon.
DesLauriers told reporters in an afternoon briefing that the FBI has received more than 2,000 tips as of midday Tuesday, and investigators have already vetted some of those. In addition, many people and businesses have submitted photographs and video of the scene near the marathon's finish line where the blasts occurred.
Still, investigators have no firm suspects in the case and no groups or people have stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack that killed three people and injured at least 176.
"At this time," DesLauriers said. "there have been no claims of responsibility."
Federal prosecutors are preparing a limited number of search warrants in the Boston area in their search for evidence in the bombing, a senior federal law enforcement official told NBC News.
And, late Tuesday the FBI released photos showing contorted metal that it said were the remains of one of the pressure-cooker bombs used in the Boston Marathon attack.
'Weeding through' evidence
Agents are "weeding through" the evidence, the official said. But the searches do not indicate that agents have any hard leads right now into who was behind the bombing, the official said, adding that the number of search warrants are "less than a half dozen."
More than a day after the bombs went off, crime scene processing continues with hundreds of hours of video simultaneously being viewed, a federal official said. At some point FBI behavioral profilers will join in the analysis, officials said, as they begin their effort to put together who the person or persons were who launched the attack.
Investigators have begun the process of recovering tiny pieces of bombs to learn how they were made. So far, they know the bombs were made from pressure cookers filled with ball bearings and nails – a method used for decades in terror bombings. But no suspects are in custody and investigators are asking the public for help. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Investigators have found fragments of dark or black nylon, which were possibly from a bag or backpack that contained the bombs. In addition, pieces of what is believed to have been a pressure cooker used in making the bomb have been discovered.
Those pieces of evidence, along with others, are being sent to the FBI's lab in Quantico, Va., for testing to determine if they were indeed part of the bomb. The lab will attempt to reconstruct the explosive devices to determine their origin, DesLauriers said.
"This is a painful and tragic lesson, but we will learn from this as well," said Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Patrick also announced that President Barack Obama would attend an interfaith service honoring the victims of the tragedy at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Cathedral of the Holy Cross in South Boston.
Sources involved in the investigation said late Tuesday that the pressure-cooker bombs were powerful "homemade claymore," directional explosives that appeared to include a triggering mechanism using a battery pack and a circuit board. Both of those elements were recovered at the scene.
"It appeared to be built from scratch but with a sophisticated triggering mechanism. And frankly, at the end of the day, all bombs are crude devices, and it is the way they are triggered that can be sophisticated," said one official with strong knowledge of explosives. "They functioned as designed."
According to a FBI-Department of Homeland Security document, a preliminary examination of photographs and on-scene reports show that one of the bombs consisted of a pressure cooker with an undetermined main charge. The other device was also housed in a metal container, but so far there is not enough evidence to determine if it was also a pressure cooker, the document stated.
The two Boston Marathon bombs appeared to have each contained tiny nails – smaller than the ones used to hang pictures, "fine nails" or brads, according to one of the people assigned to the case. And the devices themselves appear to have been delivered to the scene in two duffle bags.
Nicholas Yanni, who sustained injuries during the explosion at the Boston Marathon, talks about the bombing at a news conference Tuesday.
'To the ends of the earth'
DesLauriers earlier vowed to go "to the ends of the earth" to find those responsible. But a day after the explosions, Obama said that authorities did not know whether the attack was foreign or domestic, the work of a group or an individual, or what the motive might be.
According to federal officials, there is no indication currently of any overseas involvement or direction in the attacks, and although the case is being handled by the international terrorism section of the FBI, that is simply a matter of resources, and if it turns out to be domestic the command of the incident will simply be switched.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that the explosives were classified as low — meaning that they traveled at under 3,300 feet per second. That is not enough to create a blast wave, which can kill people from air compression and blow out faraway windows, but it is enough to propel shrapnel a great distance.
A pressure cooker, in its everyday use, speeds cooking by creating a tight seal and building pressure inside the pot. Converting it to a bomb sheaths the explosives in a metal casing, which blows apart when the bomb is detonated and adds to the shrapnel already packed inside.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that he knew of two ways to detonate a pressure cooker bomb — with a device placed on the cooker or by remote, such as by cellphone. Law enforcement could use records to track a cellphone detonation, he said.
One of the three devices that was to be used in an attempted bomb attack in Times Square in 2010 was a pressure cooker. Earlier that year, terrorists used a pressure cooker bomb in an attack in Pakistan. And in 2006, more than 130 people were killed on the transit system of Mumbai, India, when pressure cookers loaded with explosives were placed on trains.
In the hunt for clues in Boston, informal public efforts sprang up almost immediately to scour the mass of photos and video already posted on Twitter, Facebook and other sites. Authorities added their own call for help, hoping that in an era of ever-present smartphones, race fans might be holding evidence without even knowing it.
Charles Krupa / AP
See images from the scene of the explosions.
"There has to be hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs, videos and other observations that were made down at that finish line yesterday," said Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police. "You might not think it's significant, but it might have some value to this investigation."
From the White House, Obama praised acts of heroism after the explosions and said that the investigation would take time.
Obama: 'We will bring them to justice'
"We will find whoever harmed our citizens, and we will bring them to justice," he vowed. "We also know this: The American people refuse to be terrorized."
Authorities confirmed at a mid-morning news conference that only two bombs went off Monday. Contradicting reports from the chaotic early hours after the blasts, they said that no unexploded devices were found.
Overnight, law enforcement officials searched a suburban Boston apartment building, interviewed a man and removed a duffel bag and two trash bags. But a law enforcement official later told NBC News that nothing of interest was found. They also issued alerts for a rental van and a man seen leaving the scene of the blasts.
Law enforcement officials also told NBC News that the bombs, which detonated seconds apart, were packed with ball bearings and BBs, apparently intended to increase the casualties. The blasts turned the finish line of the marathon into a hellish scene of panicked spectators, shattered glass and blood-spattered sidewalks.
Martin Richard, 8, was killed in the marathon bombing.
Among the dead was an 8-year-old Boston boy, Martin Richard, who was waiting at the finish. Krystle Campbell, 29, of the Boston suburb of Medford, was also killed, her father told NBC News. The Chinese consulate in New York said the third victim was a Chinese national. The victim, whose family has requested she not be identified, was also a student at Boston University, the school said.
As of 3:30 p.m. ET, there were 72 patients from the blasts still being treated at six Boston hospitals, including some who had injuries described as "limb-threatening." An official at Boston Children's Hospital said the youngest victim was a 2-year-old boy with a head injury.
Among the other injured were brothers, 33 and 31, who each lost a leg from the knee down. Dr. George Velmahos, chief of trauma at Massachusetts General Hospital, told reporters that surgeons had removed pellets, nails and other shrapnel from the bodies of patients. They bled heavily, and some required amputations, he said.
Investigators were studying surveillance video to look for anyone placing packages at the points where the bombs exploded. Law enforcement officials said there was video showing a person, from the back, carrying two backpacks, but they said it was too soon to know whether that was related to the attack.
The Boston police commissioner called the resulting crime scene the most complex that the department has ever dealt with, and said all sworn officers were working around the clock. The FBI took charge, but an array of law enforcement agencies joined the hunt. Leads poured in.
Investigators picked through mounds of personal belongings left by some of the thousands of people who fled the finish line, at Boylston Street, after gathering for perhaps the most joyous day on the Boston calendar — Patriots Day.
Authorities at all levels asked for patience. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that she had great faith that an arrest would be made.
NBC News chief justice correspondent Pete Williams discusses the latest on the Boston Marathon bombing, saying investigators spoke at length with a 20-year-old student yesterday, whose apartment was searched overnight.
"I don't think it's going to be the day after tomorrow. But that's OK. It's going to happen," she said. "You cannot do this in the United States."
Public officials have repeatedly praised spectators, runners and race volunteers for charging in to help. One in particular gained online fame — a man named Carlos Arredondo who was pictured in a photo helping rush a gray-faced young man in a wheelchair to safety, pinching what appeared to be a protruding artery to stop the blood.
Do you know a Boston hero? Tell NBC News
Obama cited runners who had kept going after the race to get to hospitals, and people who tore off clothes to make tourniquets.
"If you want to know who we are, what America is, how we respond to evil, that's it," he said. "Selflessly, compassionately, unafraid."
Gov. Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said a new centralized fund was set up in order to to gather donations to help families affected by the tragedy. Called The One Fund Boston, contributions can be made through a website, onefundboston.org.
Firefighters spent the night chasing bomb scares around a jittery city, and the country was on edge on the day after the explosions. A terminal at LaGuardia Airport in New York, a plane in Boston and part of the Cleveland transit system were briefly cleared because of suspicious packages. Authorities in big cities increased security.
A fire at the John F. Kennedy presidential library in Boston more than an hour after the blasts, initially treated by investigators as related, appeared be caused by a simple electrical short, police said.
The blasts went off just before 3 p.m., with thousands of runners still on the course. They sent up white plumes of smoke, rattled police barricades and stiffened flags set up to celebrate the 96 countries that sent runners to the most prestigious road race.
Boston Globe senior sports reporter Steve Silva was covering the Boston Marathon yesterday when he caught the explosions on tape, and finish line coordinator Tom Meagher ran to the aid of a fallen runner. The two men talk about the tragedy they witnessed.
"In 28 years, this is definitely the worst I've seen," said Chief Ron Harrington of the Boston Fire Department's District 3. "Bodies and body parts. Blood all over. A little boy lying in the street. A young woman in her 20s. Both dead. It was mayhem. I saw two people with arms hanging loose, and one without a leg. A shoe with flesh still in it."
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that authorities questioned a 20-year-old man who is in the United States on a valid student visa. He was seen running from the blast area, had burns and was interviewed in a Boston hospital. But an official told NBC News that interest in the man was fading. It was his apartment building, in the Boston suburb of Revere, that police and federal agents searched overnight.
The race drew 27,000 runners and has been run since 1897 on Patriots Day, the third Monday in April, which commemorates Lexington and Concord, the two battles in Massachusetts that started the American Revolution.
The year, the race coincided with the filing deadline for federal taxes. Security experts said the FBI would undoubtedly look into the possible significance of the date as they tried to find the bomber and the motive.
Michael Isikoff, Jeff Black, Jonathan Dienst and Michael Kosnar of NBC News contributed to this report.
Bomb type gives first clue on path to perpetrator
Pressure cooker bombs used around the world for years
Who is the hero in the cowboy hat at the finish line?
Timeline of a tragedy: What happened when
Full coverage of Boston Marathon bombings from NBC News
Source: NBC News, Boston Globe, Boston Athletic Association
This story was originally published on Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:03 PM EDT


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